Experts: Trained Police Officers Better Than Armed Guards In Schools

And better than squishy liberal teachers who would look at a gun in an emergency situation the same most of us look at a dead and decomposing mouse in the crawlspace. After starting out with a story about how a trained law enforcement officer shot and wounded an attacker at a school in California, we get

(NJ.com) The National Rifle Association’s response to a Connecticut school massacre envisions, in part, having trained, armed volunteers in every school in America. But Agundez, school safety experts and school board members say there’s a huge difference between a trained law enforcement officer who becomes part of the school family – and a guard with a gun.

The NRA’s proposal has sparked a debate across the country as gun control rises once again as a national issue. President Barack Obama promised to present a plan in January to confront gun violence in the aftermath of the killing of 20 Sandy Hook Elementary School students and six teachers in Newtown, Conn.

Agundez said what happened before the shooting in the San Diego County school should frame the debate over the NRA’s proposal.

With a shooting at another county school just weeks before, Agundez had trained the staff in how to lock down the school, assigned evacuation points, instructed teachers to lock doors, close curtains and turn off the lights. He even told them computers should be used where possible to communicate, to lessen the chaos.

That makes sense, especially as it relates to teachers. Do you really want someone running around waving a handgun while panicking? Especially around a lot of people who might be running around and panicking? That’s why DatechGuy’s idea of using retired military and police officers in schools is a great one. They could work with the school, the teachers, the kids, much like Agundez did.

Of course, guards could also be trained to deal with assaults in a similar manner, after receiving proper training. And some teachers, who won’t turn into puddles of goo at the first sign of an attack, could be armed, and the gun would need to stay in the classroom. But, trained personnel would be best, people who stay calm in a crisis. It won’t necessarily stop an assailant who’s hellbent on committing murder before suicide, but, might make them go somewhere else that is free of guns.

“In general teachers don’t want guns in schools period,” said Dennis Van Roekel, president of the National Education Association, one of the two large unions representing teachers. He added that one size does not fit all districts and said the union has supported schools that wanted a trained officer. Most teachers, he said, do not want to be armed themselves.

“It’s a school. It’s not a place where guns should be,” he commented.

Why not? Isn’t the idea to protect kids? Not leave them open to wackjobs like the Newtown shooter? Or would these liberals prefer to stand by their hatred of guns while leaving the kids open to murderous intent?